Students can view and purchase local art today while supporting under-resourced area high schools at Arts Serving Art, a fundraiser by the Honors College Focusing on College and Ultimate Success organization.The annual fundraiser will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.  at the Shaw Center for the Arts River Terrace.All types of art will be available at the program, including paintings, photography, crafts, jewelry, pillows and quilts, said Caroline Gerdes, FOCUS director of finance and marketing.FOCUS alumni, University students and local artists such as Beatrix Bell, Travis Hedges Williams and Layla Messkoub contributed art to the event.Local musicians including Chris Prudhomme and Della will also perform during the sale.The event was held as a silent auction in the past, but this year it will be a sale, Gerdes said.”We want to facilitate students picking up the art,” said Amanda Glinky, FOCUS director of service learning.FOCUS is an Honors College student organization that plans a summer arts program.”FOCUS strives to make a difference in the lives of students at under-resourced high schools in Baton Rouge,” Gerdes said.Members apply for the program in the fall semester, take a class on educational history during the spring semester and develop a two-week summer program for students, Glinky said.High school students take classes in July in creative writing, dance, music, philosophy, studio art and theater and prepare a final project at the end of the program, Gerdes said.”We work to expose the arts to students who have seen dramatic cutbacks on the programs at their school,” Glinky said.FOCUS also provides a college experience to students. Students choose a major during the program and attend a class on the subject every day, Glinky said.”It’s a simulated college experience — they live in dorms and take college classes,” Gerdes said.Many FOCUS students said on past surveys they’d never been on a college campus before the program other than to attend a sporting event, Gerdes said.The program holds a college fair during the summer to provide students with information about regional colleges, Glinky said.”We want to inspire students to pursue the college path and to help them narrow down what they want to do there,” Gerdes said.FOCUS is entering its sixth year as a summer program, Glinky said.—–Contact Grace Montgomery at [email protected]